Necktie accessory



Aug. ,21, 1951 J. P. SHEA NECKTIE ACCESSORY Filed Aug. 30, 1947 INVENTOR. JOHN P. SHEA fflw HIS A 7' TOR/VE VJ Patented Aug. 21, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE NECKTIE ACCESSORY John P. Shea, Oakland, Calif.

Application August 30, 1947, Serial No. 771,500 3 Claims. (01. 2-153) My invention relates to neckties and more particularly to a necktie accessory.

In the conventional type four-in-hand necktie, the material is gathered and wrinkled in forming the knot and drawing the same tight. Consequently, the abuse to which the tie is thus subjected, results in excessive wear at this point,

causing the tie to become unusable long before the remainder of the tie even begins to show signs of wear.

Also in connection with such conventional ties, the material of the knot is the same a the tie proper which precludes the presentation of contrasts and various combinations of colors between the knot portion and the drape portion of the tie.

' Among the objects of my invention are:

(1) To provide a novel and improved necktie accessory;

(2) To provide a novel and improved necktie accessory which permits use of a conventional four-in-hand type tie, but without causing excessive wear and wrinkling of the tie material;

(3) To provide a novel and improved necktie accessory permitting of the presentation of contrasts and various color combinations between the knot portion and the drape portion of a tie;

Additional objects of my invention will be brought out in the following description of the same, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein- Figure 1 is a view of a tie assembly involving the use of my novel and improved tie accessory;

Figure 2 is a view of the accessory itself;

Figure 3 is a view in section taken in the plane 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a view of a modified form of clip for use in such accessory.

For details of my invention, reference will be made to the aforementioned drawings. The accessory illustrated therein comprises a downwardly tapered hollow knot form I of substantially oval section. The knot form may be fabricated from some deformable material 3 such as paper or the like having a certain degree of stiffness. Such form is provided with a covering 5 of suitable tie material or fabric.

The knot form is adapted to pass the neckencircling portion 1 of the conventional fourin-hand tie, and is provided with means for adjustably anchoring the knot form to the neckencircling portion of the tie whereby after this portion of the tie is slipped over the head of the wearer, the knot form may be drawn up to its proper position adjacent the neck of such person.

Such adjustable anchoring means includes a pair of clips 9, each of which is bent into shape from wire to provide end wires H, for the attachment of ribbon and an intermediate free loop 13 of wire, permitting the clip to slidably engage the neck portion of the conventional four-in-hand tie. One such clip is connected to the knot form by a length l5of flexible ribbon material preerably matching that of the knot form. Such length of ribbon is attached at one end to an end wire of the clip, and at its other end is affixed along an upper corner edge of the knot form, such place of attachment including at least a portion ll of the upper front edge thereof. The other clip is similarly connected to the opposite corner edge of the knot form.

Afiixed to the free end of each clip, is a tab l9 preferably formed of ribbon material matching that previously referred to, such tabs providing finger grips for enabling the wearer to adjust the knot form to its proper position.

In utilizing the accessory described for its intended purpose, the neck portion of a conventional four-in-hand tie is first drawn through the knot form sufficiently to provide a loop which will slip over the head of the intended wearer, following which the slidable clips are afiixed to the neck portion of the tie as indicated. The drape portion of the tie is then held in one hand, while the clip associated tabs are grasped alternately and the clips urged upwardly along the neckencircling portion of the tie by degrees to the extent permitted by the flexible ribbon connections, until the knot reaches its proper position adjacent the neck of the wearer.

By affiXing the ribbon connections to at least a portion of the upper front edge of the knot form,the knot form may be caused to stand away from the chest when drawn up rather snug- 1y to the neck of the wearer and many people prefer to wear their ties thusly. On the other hand, if it is the preference of the wearer that the knot lay fiat against the chest, such effect may be realized by not drawing the knot form too snugly against the neck.

The particular clip illustrated in connection with the embodiment of Figures 1 and 2 is not vital to the successful functioning of the invention, just so long as such clip may be slipped over 0 the neck-encirclin portion of the tie and permit slidable adjustment of the same there-along.

In Figure 4, I have illustrated a modified form 2| of such clip wherein the clip is fabricated from sheet plastic or similar material, and. as such is provided with a slot 23 adjacent each end for 3 attachment of a tab and a ribbon connection to the knot form along the lines previously indicated, while a pair of edge cuts 25 paralleling the aforementioned slots, create a central tooth 21, thus resulting in a clip readily usable for applicants purpose.

From the above description of my invention, it will be readily apparent thatthe same fulfills all the objects of my invention as previously stated, and while I have described the illustrated embodiment of my invention in considerable detail, the same is subject to alteration and modi= fication without departing from the underlying principles thereof, and I, accordingly, do not desire to be limited in my protection to such details, except as may be necessitated by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A necktie accessory for use with conventional four-in-hand ties, comprising a downwardly tapered hollow knot form open at its ends thus adapting it to pass the neck-encircling portion of a conventional four-in-hand tie, and means for adjustably anchoring said knot form to the neckencircling portion of such tie whereby to draw up said knot form to the neck of a person when the said portion of such four-in-hand tie encircles the neck of such person, said means including a pair of clips, each adapted to slidably engage the neck portion of a conventional four-in-hand tie, a length of ribbon attached at one end to an end of one of said clips and at its other end affixed along an upper corner edge of said knot form, and a comparable length of ribbon similarly connected to said other clip and the opposite upper corner edge of said knot form.

2. A necktie accessory for use with conventional four-in-hand ties, comprising a downwardly tapered hollow knot form open at its ends, a covering of suitable tie material over said form, said form being adapted to pass the neck-encircling portion of a conventional four-in-hand tie, and means for adjustably anchoring said knot form to the neck-encircling portion of such tie whereby to draw up said knot form to the neck of a person when the said portion of such four-inhand tie encircles the neck of such person, said means including a pair of clips, each adapted to slidably engage the neck portion of a conventional four-in-hand tie, a length of flexible ribbon attached at one end to an end of one or said clips and at its other end afiixed alon an upper corner edge of said knot form including at least a portion of the upper front edge thereof, and a comparable length of ribbon similarly connected to said other clip and the opposite upper corner edge of said knot form.

3. A necktie accessory for use with conventional four-in-hand ties, comprising a downwardly tapered hollow knot form open at its ends, a covering of suitable tie material over said form, said form being adapted to pass the neck-encircling portion of a conventional four=in-hand tie, and means for adjustably anchoring said knot form to the neck-encircling portion of such tie whereby to draw up said knot form to the neck of a person when the said portion of such four-inhand tie encircles the neck of such person, said means including a pair of clips, each adapted to slidably engage the neck portion of a conventional four-in-hand tie, a length of flexible ribbon attached at one end to an end of one of said clips and at its other end affixed along an upper corner edge of said knot form including at least a portion of the upper front edge thereof, a comparable length of ribbon similarly connected to said other clip and the opposite upper corner edge of said knot form, and an adjusting finger grip tab aflixed to the remaining end of each of said clips.

JOHN P. SHEA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 699,295 Dunn May 6, 1902 1,151,065 Terry Aug. 24, 1915 1,347,957 Kohirogawa July 27, 1920 1,891,630 Ve Relle Dec. 20, 1932 1,923,824 Heitzman Aug. 22, 1933 2,174,478 Pugh Sept. 26, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 6,052 Great Britain Mar. 10, 1910 12,123 Great Britain Aug. 31, 1905 of 1905 190,868 Germany Feb. 3, 1907 

